Springing to Renewal
The early spring blossoms are a welcome sign of brighter days ahead and a universal sign for hope, growth and renewal.
I am heartened to see how well the majority of our community have taken to mandatory mask wearing. I hold great respect for the retail workers dealing with the added challenge of policing the “No Mask-No Entry”.
Thank you for your commitment to our communities health and well being. It is hard to plan for a future that will be vastly different from pre-2020.
Yet, I encourage everyone to be open to all possibilities. Now is the time to try bold ideas, innovate and be brave. Prioritise your self care, reach out and speak up when you’re stuggling.
Your story might be the inspiration that guides someone else.Stay well, masked and smile with your eyes.
– Vanessa Parker
Introducing the Attraction & Retention Working Group
The Committee for Maryborough and other members of the Central Goldfields Shire community have identified that in order to remain competitive with other regional towns and attract new residence to the Shire, new strategies need to be identified and implemented to support this.
The Working Group formed in July with the following members: Ins. Donna Mitchell – Chairperson (VICPOL), Peter McAllister (MDHS), Setina Rockliffe (Latrobe University), Grace De Vella, Deborah Halpern (C4M), Garry Higgins (C4M) and Philip Schier (CGSC).
It is also identified that there are professionals living within the Shire and new retention strategies need to be identified and implemented to draw these members back to support the local workforce and support the existing local workforce to remain in the Shire.
The purpose of the Attraction and Retention working group is to develop a strategic approach to attracting and retaining residents to the Shire.
This will also address gaps in workforce across the different sectors (professionals, skilled labour, self-employed, creatives).
The key objectives for the Working Group:
– Develop an evidence base to identify specific workforce needs, identify barriers and potential solutions.
– Explore place-making approaches to increase the attractiveness of Central Goldfields as a place for people to move to / remain in.
– Identify new opportunities to attract residents, such as a growing desire for escaping’Melbourne and on-going remote working arrangements.
– Strengthen community/council/agency partnerships to implement these objectives.
Membership 2020/2021
Welcome to the Local Hero and the Change Ambassador members.
Thank you for your support… we couldn’t do it without you.
We are delighted to introduce the renaming of our Corporate Memberships and the addition of some member benefits into the existing Business and Community Group tier.
Our former Gold, Silver, Bronze members have become the Local Hero and Change Ambassador. These memberships have their logo on the Committee for Maryborough website with a click through link to their website. Remember, all our membership options provide you with access to mentoring from our experienced Board Directors, voting rights as well as advocacy and lobbying to all levels of Government.
The Committee looks forward to working with you into the future as we strive to become the centre of excellence for rural economic transformation and renewal. 2020/2021 Membership Invoices have been sent out and we appreciate that this may be a difficult financial time. We welcome the opportunity to help and have payment options available. If you did not get an invoice but expected one, please get in contact with us.
Leading Excellence Maryborough
By Lisa Renato
The inspiring and engaged group of emerging leaders, who form the 2020 cohort have now completed all of the program sessions and are creating an online Graduation Story.
Participants have found the final three topics and their presenters particularly valuable to their leadership journey. Hearing from Fabian Dattner, founder of Homeward Bound, around the challenges we all face when leading communities through change was especially powerful under the current COVID ever-changing situation.
Participants took away some key learnings that resonated with them around how styles of communication and personalities need to be considered when being a leader to successfully achieve maximum outcomes, and that as community leaders we should not dismiss the impact you can have, even the smallest contribution can be valuable.
Local leader and community advocate Gary Higgins also presented to the group sharing a combination of his own personal and a historical story of Maryborough. It was particularly enlightening to hear some of the facts behind decisions made by government and changes to industry over the past 70 years are factors in the communities’ long-term disadvantage, intergenerational unemployment and poverty. Gary was joined then by David Sutton, Principal at MEC, Martin Collins from the Shire, Jess Kelly from True Foods and Windsor Main, Chair of the Committee for Maryborough.
These five leaders conducted a Q&A panel session, led by LEM graduate Vanessa Parker. This session focused on their personal experiences of shifting the narrative within the community and broader from one of disadvantage and negativity to a narrative that shares the successes and positivity that is driving established and emerging leaders alike.
Launch into Work Project
A big thank you for Dr Anne Webster MP (Federal Member for Mallee) for hosting a round table discussion which allowed the Committee for Maryborough to showcase it’s work readiness initiative.
Watch this space, as we are extremely passionate about this topic and know it could be a game changer for work readiness.
Also a big thank you to, Senator the Hon Michaelia Cash (Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business) and The Hon Dan Tehan MP (Minister for Education), for spending the time to engage with the Committee and allow us to put forward our initiative.
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